Swansea City vs Manchester City, FA Cup Quarter-finals: Team News, Preview and Prediction

Competition/Round: 2018/19 FA Cup – Quarter-finals

Date/Time: Swansea City vs Manchester City – Saturday, 16 March 2019, 17:20 GMT (UK); 13:20 EST, 10:20 PST (USA)

Venue: Liberty Stadium, Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom

Match Officials:

Referee: Andre Marriner

Assistants: Stuart Burt, Marc Perry

Fourth Official: Simon Hooper

TV Info: BT Sport 2 (UK)

Live Stream: BT Sport 4K UHD (UK); ESPN+ (USA)

Radio: BBC Radio Manchester (UK)

Preview:

Only eight clubs remain in England’s prestigious FA Cup competition. Swansea City will host Manchester City in the FA Cup Quarter-finals on Saturday.

The state of affairs between Swansea and Manchester are very different. Having been relegated from the English Premier League last season, Swansea City are struggling in the Championship this season. The Swans currently sit in fifteenth place in the Championship and have been unable to resolve their defensive woes from last season. Whilst Swansea have scored 45 goals in 36 Championship matches this season, they have also conceded an abysmal 46 goals.

Despite this poor form in the domestic league, however, they have excelled in this year’s FA Cup. Having entered this year’s competition in the Third Round, Swansea overcame Aston Villa, Gillingham and Bretford by a scoreline of 11-2.

Swansea will face a difficult test, however, as Manchester City will be no pushovers. The Blues currently sit top of the EPL table and have already retained the EFL “Carabao” Cup from last season. Moreover, they demolished German club Schalke 04 in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, where the English side won 10-2 on aggregate.

Having come off a massive victory in midweek, in which they now find themselves in the UEFA Champions League Quarter-finals, City will look to progress in yet another cup competition this season as they travel to Swansea on Saturday.

Team News:

Swansea City’s Leroy Fer and Martin Olsson are injured and will not feature in this match. Joe Rodon is expected to return to training after recovering from a broken foot injury, although he is in doubt for this match.

Manchester City are without the injured Claudio Bravo, Kevin De Bruyne and Fernandinho. Vincent Kompany, who is carrying a knock, is in doubt. Benjamin Mendy and John Stones have returned to training.

Possible Lineups:

Swansea City

Formation: 4-2-3-1

Nordfeldt; Roberts, van der Hoorn, Carter-Vickers, Naughton; Byers, Grimes; Dyer, Celina, Routledge; James

Manager: Graham Potter

Manchester City

Formation: 4-3-3

Ederson; Danilo, Otamendi, Laporte, Zinchenko; Delph, Gündoğan, D. Silva; Mahrez, Jesus, Sané

Manager: Pep Guardiola

Prediction:

This FA Cup tie has the potential of being an exciting fixture. Swansea have lost four of their last five Championship matches, yet have excelled in the FA Cup this season. Unlike the league, which requires a series of consistent performances to excel, cup competitions provide opportunities for lower division teams to play spoiler. In other words, the Welsh side could create problems for the traveling team.

Manchester City’s recent form, however, appears to be impervious and it is no wonder why the English side is heavily tipped to win this fixture. The Blues have won five of their last five matches in all competitions, outscoring their opponents by a scoreline of 12-1.

Whilst anything is possible in a cup competition, it would be extremely difficult to make a case against Manchester City. Given the forms of these two sides, it is predicted the Blues will emerge victorious in this fixture, albeit not without difficulty from a stubborn home side.

Swansea City 1-3 Manchester City